Beyond The Box

Episode 3: How Do We Reform A Criminal Legal System That No One Trusts?

On this episode of Beyond the Box, Doug and Johnny talk with Chesa Boudin, the former crusading District Attorney of San Francisco who briefly became the contested face of criminal legal reform.  “Historically prosecutors have been all too happy to do the dirty work for the real estate industry, for the political elites, for the economic elites, and that means that we have a system of justice where people don’t trust law enforcement, they don’t trust the courts or the integrity of criminal convictions because people know that if you’re Black, or if you’re poor, if you’re an immigrant, if you don’t speak English, you’re going to be treated differently by the system. We are in a moment where there is tremendous resistance and pressure from very powerful interests against criminal justice reform, we know that. Funding is being cut, people are being prosecuted, organizations are being broken up, people are being recalled or removed from office, etc. This is a reality. It is also used by those same right wing interests to craft a narrative that is very very dishonest and misleading, which says something to the effect of criminal justice reform is dead. That is fundamentally dishonest, and I want to take a minute to explain why… https://urbanjustice.org/podcast

Episode 2: What Does It Take to Make Real News in a Fake News World?

On this episode of Beyond the Box, Doug and Johnny talk with Molly Greene, the Strategy and Legal director of The Appeal. If you’re not familiar with The Appeal, they are essential reading in our increasingly post-fact world.  The Appeal is “a nonprofit news organization that envisions a world in which systems of support and care, not punishment, create public safety. The Appeal’s journalism exposes the harms of a criminal legal system entrenched in centuries of systemic racism. We equip people with the information necessary to make change, and we elevate solutions that emerge from the communities most affected by policing, jails, and prisons in the U.S. https://urbanjustice.org/podcast

Episode 1: How is a Leader Made in NYC?

How do you go from being an incarcerated teenager from the Bronx, to a nationally recognized thought leader on criminal justice reform? Doug Lasdon talks with Johnny Perez, his new cohost for Beyond the Box Season 2, about growing up in the Bronx, being incarcerated, becoming a leader in the social justice community, working at and joining the board of UJC, and being the Director of NRCAT’s U.S. Prisons Program – oh, and being a great photographer as well! https://urbanjustice.org/podcast

Special Episode: What Is Brad Lander's Vision for NYC?

Beyond the Box Special Episode: What Is Brad Lander's Vision for NYC? And interview with NYC Comptroller (and Mayoral Candidate) Brad Lander The City Comptroller is a position of tremendous power, tasked with managing the city's fiscal health and rooting out corruption, fraud, and abuse across the entire city government - yet few people can even spell Comptroller, let alone know how important it is. Brad Lander, our current Comptroller, worked for affordable housing and community development nonprofits for many years before getting elected to the City Council in 2009. As a Councilmember, he had a twelve-year-long career advocating for many of the same policies that UJC has pursued outside the government. Lander was elected Comptroller in 2021, and late last year, he announced his intention to challenge Mayor Adams in the 2025 NYC Mayoral race. It's an honor to have him on the program. We are releasing this special episode before Season 2 officially premieres later this year, as Brad Lander has announced his campaign to replace Mayor Adams, and we may find ourselves soon in a special election. As a nonprofit, we cannot and do not endorse any candidates. We share this interview solely to educate listeners as to the positions and experiences of a potential mayoral candidate. Season 2 of Beyond the Box will officially kick off next month, when Doug interviews his new co-host, Johnny Perez,  a Board Member of the Urban Justice Center [https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.urbanjustice.org%2Four-work%2Four-board%2F&data=05%7C02%7CSStapleton%40urbanjustice.org%7C95bfbb3bdcf841598ecb08dd56991b18%7Ce019315d64db4797a82e3bbf8ada5585%7C0%7C0%7C638761937769532821%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=NDJ0%2BRpbs6e9l96PSOrRwZ%2BMoIft5MS9PUv20l5tqHc%3D&reserved=0], and the current Director of NRCAT’s U.S. Prisons Program [https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nrcat.org%2Ftorture-in-us-prisons&data=05%7C02%7CSStapleton%40urbanjustice.org%7C95bfbb3bdcf841598ecb08dd56991b18%7Ce019315d64db4797a82e3bbf8ada5585%7C0%7C0%7C638761937769557548%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=8tjQQV7ODECo4Oqp%2FhLchL%2BofYg2okC2P73wXUMkRP0%3D&reserved=0]. https://urbanjustice.org/podcast

Who’s Turning Prisons Into Profits? A Conversation with Bianca Tylek.

Who are prisons really serving? A small group of companies are turning huge profits off of every aspect of life on the inside, from food to phone calls to transportation - and we’re not just talking about for-profit prisons. Doug Lasdon talks with Bianca Tylek, founder of Worth Rises (formerly: the Corrections Accountability Project at UJC).  Worth Rises [https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fworthrises.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7CSStapleton%40urbanjustice.org%7C2f3d25f947cb4f08ba1f08dc20e1dfd6%7Ce019315d64db4797a82e3bbf8ada5585%7C0%7C0%7C638421401698710573%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=9cTVNG%2Fzyip%2B0%2BfS8%2BoZiPvdNxLuPXTRTV1cDXZxEaI%3D&reserved=0] is a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to dismantling the prison industry, ending the exploitation of those it touches, exposing the commercialization of the criminal legal system, and protecting & returning the economic resources extracted from affected communities. https://urbanjustice.org/podcast